You Can Make It at a Stroke

Let's look at some facts:

1. Stroke takes away the life of more than 150 000 people every year in the US
2. Stroke affects some 800 000 new or recurrent stroke sufferers yearly
3. As a result of the above stroke is the third greatest killer and the first adult disability factor in the United States and Europe
4. Stroke is a medical emergency and life-threatening neurological injury affecting people's health on a global scale
5. More than 65 billion USD will be required this year to meet medical costs related to stroke
6. Stroke will become the leading cause of worldwide deaths, if left undiagnosed,
7. Stroke can cause permanent brain damage and death
8. Neurologists claim they can reverse the effects completely provided the stroke victim is brought for treatment within three hours, after which there's very little hope
9. Stroke occurs suddenly, so fast that it can shock bystanders. It may happen anywhere, at home, on the road, at work.
10. If you know the techniques of recognising a stroke you can make all the difference. You can save a life; you can prevent the victim from getting crippled for life.

Now you are aware what a stroke implies, do you know what a stroke is? How does it affect a person? Is there a treatment? Can you help in treating a stroke victim? How can you recognise and assist in mitigating the drastic consequences of a stroke victim? Let's find out together in more details.

What is a stroke?

A stroke, also known as cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or cerebral infarction, is a cardiovascular disease. It can strike in two ways:

1. When the blood vessel carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain is blocked by a clot (thrombus). This condition is called ischemia (lack of blood supply) - ischemic stroke
2. When the blood vessel bursts and causes haemorrhage - haemorrhagic stroke

In either case the brain is deprived and starts to die. It is therefore vital to restore the blood flow as quickly as possible. A long period of blood deprivation to the brain may cause nerve cells to die. Permanent and irreversible damage to the brain may ensue.

Hemorrhagic stroke accounts for a higher death rate. But ischemic stroke, also called thrombotic stroke, is more common and accounts for more than 85 per cent of all strokes. It occurs mostly at night or in the early morning. It is often preceded by what is called a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or a “warning stroke” which lasts only a few minutes. If you identify a TIA victim bring him to immediate medical care.

Effects of a stroke

The brain is a complex organ and functions in a such manner that one side of it controls the opposite side of the body. The effects depend largely on where the obstruction or disruption is located and how much the brain is damaged.

A stroke in the right side of the brain will affect the left side of the body and the right side of the face. The left side of the body is paralysed and the victim may experience vision problems and memory loss, and display quick, inquisitive behaviour.

A stroke in the left side will affect the right side of the body and left side of the face. The victim may suffer right side body paralysis, experience memory loss and speech problems and display slow, cautious behaviour.

Dealing with a stroke victim

As a layman it's not your job to administer treatment. Leave it to the professionals; neurologists and emergency physicians will act according to the type of stroke. For ischemic stroke they'll usually administer clot-busting drugs while a surgical intervention would be necessary for hemorrhagic stroke.

Well, although the symptoms are not easily identifiable it is vital to recognise, diagnose and treat a stroke victim as quick as possible. If you are on the scene of accident you can at least start the process of treatment. “Process” implies a number of steps you could follow in helping to deal with a victim. If you have knowledge of first aid, fine. If you don't, you need not panic. Here's what you can do:

1. Act promptly - most important of all. Remember every minute counts.
2. Don't panic. Keep calm.
3. Recognise the problem and call the ambulance immediately. If you are in Mauritius dial 114; in the US it's 911, otherwise check your country's emergency number.

You are the key person here. You can START the treatment. To recognise the symptoms, follow the steps below and give a clear description of your own observations to the emergency team once they are on site:

S - SMILE - There's sudden numbness of the face and the victim cannot smile if asked to.

T - TALK - His talking is incoherent.

A - ALERTNESS - Victim is not alert. He has trouble seeing and suffers severe headache.

R - RAISE arms - He cannot raise both arms. There's loss of balance; he cannot walk

T - TONGUE - His tongue is crooked or sways sideways.

Don't forget you have only three hours for a proper treatment; and the victim needs to be hospitalized within an hour of the occurrence of the stroke in order to allow for appropriate evaluation, diagnosis and treatment.

Risk factors

Basically the risk factors are the same as for cardiovascular disease. People most at risk are those having:

1. hypertension
2. diabetes
3. high cholesterol
4. migraine with aura
5. previous history of stroke or TIA
6. cigarette smokers
7. cases of atrial fibrillation
8. thrombophilia (a thrombosis tendency)
9. older age

Prevention

Once you are aware of the risk factors you can take action to reduce the risk of recurrent episodes of stroke. Take your health in your hands. You cannot always rely solely on doctors. You should play your part too.

Cardiovascular complications are often due to:

1. unhealthy lifestyle
2. lack of exercise
3. improper diet or uncontrolled medication

Adopting a healthier lifestyle will go a long way towards prevention. If you know you are at risk or you have ever experienced a TIA you need to be careful. Just consider the following simple things:

• If you are diabetic and hypertensive try to keep these under control. Very often people are not aware they have diabetes and hypertension until they are diagnosed as a result of an emergency
• Practise physical exercise, control your weight
• Control your diet, eat healthy
• If you smoke, quit. There can be no compromise for this. Don't say “I'll decrease consumption gradually”. This doesn't work, most of the time.
• Take any medication that may be prescribed by your physician to “thin” the blood

If you follow the above carefully there's no reason why you cannot keep the stroke incidence at a low level. Not only you'll contribute to a healthier world population, you'll also help save billions of dollars for fighting against this single big killer.

Don't forget. You can make it. START now.

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